VOORHEESVILLE — Frank Papa, Voorheesville’s fire chief, wants a brand new truck.

As the village board met before its Aug. 24 meeting, Papa told the board he would like time set aside at one of the next meetings for a presentation by a Florida-based company on financing the purchase of a fire truck. Papa said there are ways to buy a new truck but to delay payments for up to two years, and that the board would learn more about this and other financing options. 

At the July meeting, Papa told The Enterprise that he is requesting a new fire truck two years earlier than the usual 25-year replacement period because new emission standards will make the 2010 fire truck models more expensive. Papa said the cost of a new ready-made fire truck is about $320,000; however, next year, new, more environmentally efficient engines required by the federal Environmental Protection Agency may add between $17,000 and $35,000 to the cost of a truck.

While discussing the proposed fire-truck financing presentation in the pre meeting, Trustee David Cardona said, “I’d like to know the options but I don’t want anyone to think we’re buying a truck. But if we don’t explore, we won’t find anything out. 

Papa told the board that setting up an earlier meeting about financing the truck would be better in order to purchase the cheaper 2009 model. Mayor Robert Conway responded by saying, “We’re not going to make a decision that quickly and, in my mind, we’re not buying a truck before the end of the year.”

Other business

In other business, the board:

— Heard from Trustee William Hotaling that at the August zoning board of appeals meeting, a side yard and front yard were approved at 246 Cheshire court. Hotaling said that at its Sept. 3 meeting, the zoning board would consider a request for a use variance for two two-story buildings at Pheasant Run;

— Heard from Public Works Superintendent William Smith that the village would no longer employ the two “hard- working” summer employees as they are going back to college;

— Heard from Mayor Conway that the village offers its condolences to the families of Vera Shultz and Robert "Bobby" H. Oddy Jr.;

—  Heard from Conway that the one-year agreement to provide water for the undeveloped Claremont Estates, owned by Catherine Froman, has elapsed. Conway said the village would wait for an application from Froman to extend the offer before considering whether or not to do so; and

— Unanimously passed a resolution to update the village’s sewer law. Village Clerk Linda Pasquali, who worked with Superintendent Smith, said the changes were made to update the laws to better represent the village’s current needs.  Smith said that the original sewer law was almost identical to the town of Colonie’s sewer laws. 

The first change had to do with omitting the phrases “street laterals” and “building laterals” to read simply “laterals.” The second change had to do with grinder pumps. The law now states that new grinder pumps being installed have to be of a type specified by the village. Finally, the sewer law was updated to specify the access fee for new buildings connecting to the Salem Hills sewage treatment plant, which services the village. The fee is $1,000 per toilet.